MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Wednesday Russia could take legal action if its disgraced athletics federation is not reinstated to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Interfax news agency reported.

"It seems to me it is necessary to start treating it from a legal point of view," Interfax quoted Mutko as saying. "I do not rule out that we will do this in the nearest future."